


you got friends (who got friends who got this).

by anxiouspunk



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Family Bonding, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Gen, Team as Family, as they call her, basically they all go to watch cass’s basketball game and chaos ensues, but it was what I was listening to writing this and I didn’t have any other ideas so, but lets be honest the child is just as chaotic, but what else would you expect honestly, cass can’t take her family anywhere basically, dinah is the only mature grown-up here, everyone pretends they’re a hardass but really they all love their scrappy pickpocket, helena ‘I’ll kick your ass! I’ll kick your boyfriend’s ass! I’ll kick my own ass!’ bertinelli, it's family fic time!, it’s cass with everybody basically, meanwhile helena will try to kick anyone’s ass and harley can’t be trusted with anything, shortly followed by renee, title as ‘lines that burn’ by tilian, title’s......v bad, we love four badass and somewhat chaotic wlw who probably shouldn’t be in charge of a child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22919629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiouspunk/pseuds/anxiouspunk
Summary: “Look, the game’s the middle of the week, and earlier in the day too, before you guys are gone, so I know it won’t get in the way of your do-gooding or whatever it is..”“Harley did it occur to you that we have lives outside of the Birds of Prey?” Dinah countered.“Honestly, there isn’t much you can say that is gunna make us want to hang out in a damp gymnasium for an hour with a bunch of middle schoolers..” Montoya backed up.“C’mon guys!” now Harley’s intrinsic cheer left, face pinched in frustration “Cass has been workin’ real hard! She wants you softies there – don’t ask me why! And every other little shit is going to have their rents’ there, Cass should have somebody too!”
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Harleen Quinzel, Dinah Lance & Cassandra Cain, Harleen Quinzel & Dinah Lance & Helena Bertinelli & Renee Montoya, Helena Bertinelli & Cassandra Cain, Renee Montoya & Cassandra Cain
Comments: 30
Kudos: 274





	you got friends (who got friends who got this).

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all!
> 
> To make a long story short, I basically started working on this the second I came home from the movie. I love a found family trope, as well as group shenanigans, so thus this ridiculous thing was born. 
> 
> I have another Dinah/Helena fic right on the horizon too; I know some ppl were asking for more after my last bop fic, so hopefully this satisfies you until then!
> 
> Either way, enjoy!

I t starts when Harley invites herself over to see the Birds of Prey unannounced. Again. 

Frankly, it was their fault for giving her a key;  whosoever idea that was needed to be strung. But honestly, even if they hadn’t, she’d have found a way in regardless.

She came in during the middle of the day, which was also weird, but she probably wanted to catch them before they left on their crimefighting adventures. It’d made all of them into moles really, relaxing or sleeping in the day to slink out at night because that was when Gotham’s crime skyrocketed. 

Montoya and Dinah were in front of the t.v, arguing about what to watch between one of the ex-cop’s ridiculous  police show reruns or another one of Dinah’s trashy reality shows, and Helena was over the kitchen, trying to scrub out blood from her uniform with enough  vigor she could rub her knuckles raw. That’s when the door suddenly burst right open, making all three women jump. 

“Jesus Christ Quin.” Montoya glared from over the back of the couch “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” 

  
  


“I prefer the  _ element of surprise.”  _ Harley’s blue eyes danced gleefully, shutting the door with the heel of her glittery boot “And I’m  _ so sorry  _ to interrupt this  _ very busy merry-making..”  _

“Where’s Cass?” Dinah asked, grinning  triumphantly when was able to use the distraction and grab the remote from a now annoyed Montoya. Wherever Harley went, the scrappy pickpocket could usually be spotted right behind her. 

“At basketball practice.” Harley answered, sliding by Helena to stick her head in the fridge for whatever goodies there were, and then when she found  a leftover cupcake in there, brought her head back up with half of it already in her mouth “Which is  _ just what  _ I came over to talk to you ladies about..” 

Being Harley’s  apprentice was all well and good, but perhaps it wasn’t the best for a young kid to be around all that chaos 24/7. So, after some encouragement from the four adults to find something  _ she  _ really liked to  do, after some time found herself joining the local basketball team for tween girls, and, to everyone’s somewhat surprise,  really ended up liking it. 

“And what about it?” Helena glared over because she’d intended to eat that cupcake later. Thankfully for Harley, the  assassin had learned to reign her anger in a bit more now, otherwise she wouldn’t have had any working  fingers to eat that cupcake with. 

“Weellll, the little girlies are having a big game next week. And I just  _ happen  _ to have tickets,  four of em’, for it!” 

And, a woman of her word, Harley whipped her hand out of her pocket, revealing four, square white slips of paper and smiling wide.

“ _You_ actually paid for tickets for that?” Helena furrowed. Dinah piped up from the living room, eyes still on the episode of  _ The Bachelor  _ that was playing.

“No way; you know she just blew the coach in exchange for a couple spare.” 

A rumble of laughter went around the shared apartment. Harley pouted angrily, walking over to the living room. 

“I’ll have you know,  _ Dinah Laurel Lance,”  _ She stood over Dinah after with folded arms in mock  _ tsking  _ while Dinah gave a glare back that asked how the hell Harley knew her middle name  “I paid full price for em’ because youth programs in this city are very poorly funded so we have to pay for them if we want better  opportunities for kids. Also –”

She swiped the remote from the songstress,  defiantly clicking the red  _ off  _ button and turning the t.v screen black. 

“Ey!” 

“– the nice suitcoat guy comin’ out of the bar last night was very  sweet to give me his wallet before I  sent Brucie on im’.” 

“There she is..”

Harley flopped into the couch, beside Montoya  _ “Anywayssss,  _ these four tickets aren’t just for me – they’re for each of yous guys!” 

There was a long pause of silence. Neither of the three women said anything despite Harley’s wide smile, eyes flicking to each other to try and gauge if that was  _ really  _ what she said. 

“..Harley, we know you’re batshit, but you can’t be serious..” Montoya said. 

“‘Course I am!” was the cheery reply. 

Helena, who’d walked over now to stand  behind the  couch, spoke “Harley, we like Cass too, but..I think we all have better things to do then watch a basketball game with a bunch of twelve-year-olds.” 

Harley leaned her head back into the couchins to look the taller woman in the eye,  brow bunching “And what – you got a hot date with another bottle of stain remover, Stringbean?” 

Helena’s eyes widened with flames and immediately Harley put her hands up, scooting along the couch to get as far away as she could. 

“Look, the game’s the middle of the week, and  earlier in the day  too, before you guys are gone, so I know it won’t get in the way of your do-gooding or whatever it is..”

“Harley did it occur to you that we have lives  _ outside  _ of the Birds of Prey?”  Dinah countered.

“Honestly, there isn’t much you can say that is gunna make us want to hang out in a damp  gymnasium for an hour with a bunch of middle schoolers..”  Montoya backed up.

“C’mon guys!” now Harley’s intrinsic cheer left, face pinched in frustration “Cass has been workin’ real hard! She wants you softies there – don’t ask  _ me  _ why! And every other little shit is going  to have their rents’ there, Cass should have somebody too!” 

“Well she’s going to have  _ you  _ isn’t she?!” Montoya demanded. At that, Harley immediately went quiet. She now refused to look any of them in the eyes, instead fiddling with one of the many rings around her finger. 

“Well, I..see, thing is..I..I don’t..” 

“Harley! Seriously?!” Dinah smacked the girl across the arm who let out a whimperish “ow!”, fixing her in a glare “You’re going to just abandon Cass like that for your bullshit?!” 

“No! That ain’t it! Swear! It..it’s just..” Harley sighed, head still down and twisting her fingers around “..I-I don’t think they’re gunna let me in..” 

_ That,  _ wasn’t what anybody was expecting.  A long strain of silence, each looking to the other until Dinah broke the quiet.

“..What?”

“Hello??? Majorly wanted criminal remember?!” Harley pointed towards herself, eyes popped in exaggeration “You think they’re gunna  let me in around a room full of thirty innocent kids and families?! They’re gunna take one look at me and send me packing!” 

“Ah..”  Montoya rose a brow, some kind of impressed shock coming over  “So, you’re hoping, even if you get kicked out, we’ll at least still be there so Cass has someone watching out for her..” 

“..Somethin’ like that..” Harley mumbled, continuing to bore holes into the ragged couch underneath her criss-crossed legs. 

“Wow..” Dinah leaned back against the couch, grinning smugly at the blonde “And you have the balls to call  _ us  _ softies..” 

Harley rolled her eyes, only ignoring the grins and chuckles that went around.

“Whatevah! I just gotta know if you guys are comin’ or not!” She declared, holding up the tickets once more, right in the middle  and  high in the air. 

Another pause of silence. A holding moment in time, the three looking to the others again to see just what they thought. Meanwhile, Harley glanced around expectantly, really believing that their goody-goody natures for the kid would bow out in the end. And, sure enough, 

“Fine.” Dinah sighed, plucking a ticket from Harley’s grimy (and probably questionable) fingers. 

“Canary!” Montoya exclaimed as Harley grinned “C’mon!” 

“Hey, I know you guys love that little shit too! And, honestly, unless we want her to end up..” the unspoken words were already clear in their meaning, Dinah’s eyes even bugging towards Harley who quickly lost her smile “then we should at least show up for her when she decides to actually do something normal.” 

Yet another pause. Then, Helena sighed defeatedly, and reached for a ticket. 

“Dumb kid..” 

That left only bird left. All eyes went to Montoya, searing in, and, not being able to handle all the peer pressure and a guilty conscience, also sighed and swiped the last ticket. 

“ Great!” Smile regained, Harley hopped off the couch “It’s been  _ lovely  _ catching up, but a woman’s work is never done, so I must adue. But remember ladies, 6:30 p.m, next Wednesday!”

-

Wednesday came faster then anyone expected. And keeping to their word, all three Birds of Prey  (begrudgingly) showed up to the local Y a little after six. Sure enough, there  were mini vans and  family  four door cars parked  along the block, mom and  pops’ trailing their kids around and into the door. Already, the three were feeling  a little out of place.

“Do..do we just go in?..” Helena asked, nervously pulling on the flannel she threw over her tanktop because Dinah told her she wasn’t going to show up to Cass’s game drenched in black ‘like some kind of nightcrawler’ “I feel like they’re not gunna let us in unless we have a kid...” 

“Man,” Dinah, dressed in her leather jacket and dark purple jeans, making her gold  accessories pop more then usual “you really don’t know how to act around the public, do you H?” 

Helena glared back to Dinah’s grin, red tinting the white cheeks.

“What’s with this fucking leather jacket?! I thought you said I wasn’t allowed to wear mine –”

“Yeah and you’ve still got this black and white plaid and black jeans bullshit, honestly are you even aware of a  colourscheme –”

“ Alright, knock it off!” Montoya broke in “And the french  too – they’re children around.” 

“Okay  _ Mom,  _ are you gunna tell us not to fight or we won’t get ice cream after this?” 

“Don’t twist my arm Lance –”

  
  


“Oh  _ youhooo!”  _

There was a sharp whistle that cut the bickering off, all heads spinning to the corner of the red brick building and to the shadowed corner, off to the side.

“Uhh..” Helena squinted “I might be seeing things, but I think that shadow is  _ beckoning  _ us..” 

And surely, a  _ particularly _ pale hand slunk out into the light, calling them over with a clawing finger. It didn’t take Montoya’s detective skills to figure out who it was. The three hurried over the most inconspicuously that they could, and the closer they got, found Harley slinking around in waiting. 

“Oh lord..” Montoya sighed. 

“Harley? What the hell are you doin’ sitting here in the trash like  a raccoon?” Dinah demanded. 

“Look, so,” Harley stepped forward a bit, revealing the pile of fabrics she had stuffed in her arms “intead of just sittin’ out on Cass’s game, I got an idea.” 

“Always promising coming from you..” 

“Maybe they won’t let me in if I’m dressed like  _ Harley _ – but, what if..” She held up the heavy pile, the trademarked grin coming over “I was dressin’ like somebody  _ else?..”  _

“You want us to basically dress you up?” Dinah raised a brow, arms folding “Like a goddamn doll?” 

“It could work! C’mon, it’s no fair I get to miss out while all of you get to go!” 

“Can’t believe I’m about to say this..” the songstress sighed, folded arms collapsing like a wall in defeat “but fine..” 

“Since when do you speak for the whole group?” Montoya said as Harley silently cheered.

With the three of them on it, they were thankfully able to get her suited up quickly. Harley essentially just grabbed whatever bunch of random clothing items that would  do from her  drawers, which included: a baseball cap to hide her hair in that was either stolen from Helena or Montoya, her red bejewelled sunglasses, a feathery boa that Harley swore was a scarf but no one belived her, and that giant blue trenchcoat that hid pretty much her whole body. Dinah also ran out to the car to grab some heeled black boots she knew she threw in the trunk in exchange for Harley’s hot pink shoes. 

“Mm, they’re cute, but they’re  _ cute  _ cute.” She sighed in a very woe-is-me-fashion “But I’ll make it work.” 

“I swear to god, if I see you got  _ any  _ glitter on those, I’ll kick your ass clean.” 

This was all to say, Harley was quite the looker after appearing like she’d been violently thrown up on by a kid’s dress-up closet.  They made their way inside quick  after, as the game was just about to start. The  gymnasium was fairly full for what was a kid’s game, most bleachers  packed with parents and siblings. The four made their way up,  definitely not without getting their fair share of looks between Helena’s jock-lesbian outfit, Dinah’s dark make-up and gold, the mesh of clothes that was Harley in disguise, and especially considering not one of them shared any resemblance to be coming in together. They settled into the uncomfortable and cracked bleachers about mid-way up, ready for the  meritocracy of tonight. 

“ Why here?!” Montoya demanded as they took their seats “You can hardly see a damn thing!” 

“Well do you see anywhere else that was open to sit?!” Helena demanded, having been the one in front who led them up to the spot. 

“If you can’t see Montoya we can put you up on Huntress’s shoulders.” Dinah smiled. 

“Fuck off.” 

“Hey, French!” 

Both Dinah and Helena then starting chuckling. Below them infront, a couple heads  of some parents  swivelled around, giving them quick looks. The laughs died down a bit. 

“Alright alright,” Dinah lowered her voice for the four, once the heads had turned back “let’s all just pretend we’re all normal and get along, okay? We’re here for Cass remember..” 

“Fear not ladies,” Harley leaned in with a grin, sliding a bag nobody remembered her having forward “for I brought game snacks!” 

Soon enough, Harley was passing down twizzler packs, chip bags, and a jar of marshmallow goop that nobody really wanted to touch, so she had that while Montoya got the salty snack and the other two shared the twizzlers.

Not long after, the kids started  trailing in; two  separate lines for the teams, walking in as everyone  politely cheered. 

“ Where’s Cass?” 

“I dunno, she’s too goddamn small –”

“Over there!” Harley pointed out, a mini telescope to her eye to spot the young girl because of fucking course she had that “Number fifty-four!” 

Following Harley’s direction, they were able to pick out the worn blue jersey with the gold  _ 54  _ on the back; in fact, Cass, hair pulled back in a ponytail, was scanning the crowd too, almost nervously waiting for any familiar faces while her teammates waved to their parents. Finally, the dark eyes caught her ragtag group (they were kind of hard not to spot) and they all saw the worried face break into a bashful grin, giving a little wave back. Nobody would say it, but  they all felt their reserve for having to be here tonight melt somewhat, smiling and giving salutes back.

The game started, and really, the problem here was that not many if them actually knew how a basketball game worked. Montoya and Dinah had a vague idea, Helena had never seen one in her life having grown-up in solitude, and Harley claimed she was ‘too smart and too pretty’ to be bothered with sports. 

“I mean, how hard it is  _ really?”  _ She rolls her eyes, brushing off white marshmallow bits from her chin  “One side throws the ball into one hoop, the other throws it into the other hoop, boom, done!” 

That didn’t really be the case because the PHD doctor kept tugging  on their sleeves to explain why the ref blew his whistle  every time. Thankfully, after they chewed through the snacks, they all were allowed sips of Montoya’s secret flask of whiskey to bypass Harley’s constant questions  (well, Dinah really just wrenched it out of her hands to pass around, but that’s neither here nor there). 

It went by and they were able to pay enough attention; by mid-way, Cass’s team had already gotten up with a couple points, and they were even able to see the girl make a shot, causing an uproar of cheers and  one  whistle from Helena, Harley even jumping up and down with glee so they had to push her back down to keep her cover. This was not really enjoyed by the people in front of them however (not after they could probably smell the whiskey being shared or that Harley accidentally dropped her bag of popcorn  that was being sold that she got later  down onto them).

“The kid made a shot! Told ya she was workin’ hard!”

“Well somebody has to between you two..” Montoya mumbled.

“ It’s  over half-way done now..” Dinah said, eyes  following Cass as she was running up along the court in the middle, two other opposite players running close beside her “as long as they keep their  advantage, the kid’ll walk away victorious –”

It happened within two seconds. All four watched as another girl in a red coloured  jersey, who was about twice the size of Cass, quickly and rather slick, came up right beside her and before anyone could really process it, Cass was tripping and landing right flat-down on her face. She tripped her.

Not even a second after, all of them were up on their feat and screaming. 

“Ey!” Dinah yelled, pointing down to the little shit now running off from Cass “Fowl! That’s a fuckin fowl!” 

“Hey!” Harley was flailing her arms around, angrily pinched face “Stop that girl! She-she can’t, that-that’s not allowed!!” 

About half of the crowd had noticed too, some noise from the masses, and right after the ref’s whistle was blown. The kids all stopped but Cass seemed to pay no attention; rather, she got right back up on her feet, ignored the ref trying to come towards her, raced after the girl who tripped her, jumped right onto her back – and began  _ wailing  _ on  her.

Now everyone in the crowds was up and yelling as the  calamity burst over the court – but no one louder then the oddballs Cassandra called a family who were watching with grins and wide eyes. 

“Atta girl! Get em’!!” Harley screamed in delight, jumping up and down on her toes “Do what I told ya – go for the eyes!!” 

“ _Headlock!_ Get em in headlock!!” Helena yelled, hands cupping her mouth and that angry fire in her eyes “Get that little asshole!!!” 

“ _No,_ stop it –  _ everyone shut the fuck up!!”  _ Dinah managed to scream over the egging, death glare spared around “We have to stop it right now before Cass is kicked off or  _pummelled, _ c’mon!!” 

She didn’t wait for the others to follow, rushing off and pushing through the crowds who were starting to rush onto the floor. Montoya, the other voice of reason, was right behind her – and seeing that they didn’t want to get left behind, Helena and Harley followed. 

They had to shove their way through the thick crowd forming – Dinah’s sharp  _ move it!  _ doing well enough – to finally break through to find Cass  _ still  _ beating the girl,  using her smallness to her  advantage by wrapping herself around the girl’s shoulders, yanking on her hair and hitting with wild ferocity with the other tried to grip onto her to pull her off.

“ _Piece of shit!_ Say that to me again asshole!” 

“ Alright,  _ alright – hey,  **hey!”** _ Dinah dove into the mess and past the ref who was making little  ground by trying to  grab for the girls, snatching Cass and detangling her as she continued to kick and swipe “knock it off, c’mon!!” 

“Let me go!” Cass defiantly pulled herself from Dinah, huffing and  glaring up “She tripped me!” 

Montoya, trying to push her small frame to the front, spoke “We know that Cassandra but –”

“That’s what you get for stealing my shot you bitch!” This girl spat back, stalking closer to Cass “Honestly, if you think  you’re so much better then why don’t you come over and prove it –”

“Don’t you take one more step you little snot!” Harley hissed right as Helena took a defiant step in front of Cass and (although no one really thought she was going to do anything) Dinah made sure to put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back.

“ Hey, don’t you talk to my daughter like that!” 

Suddenly, another mom and pop pair appeared through the crowd with five other kids tagged along, the woman who had the same blond hair as Cass’s attacker placing her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and glare  deepening when it was revealed – 

Oh good. It was the family that’d been sitting below them that Harley had sprayed in popcorn and Helena had nearly threatened  (right after  Haryley made a joke about the ref’s stripped zebra shirt and she’d turned around to look  Harley right in the eye and say she  _ should consider lowering her voice  _ _ as no one likes a loudmouth _ and Helena barely got through yelling how many teeth she was going to pull out of  this woman’s mouth before Dinah  pushed her back into her seat ).

“ Oh, of course, it’s you four!” 

“God, I’m not getting paid enough for this..” Montoya sighed as Dinah pinched her brow, both Helena and Harley nervously shifting their eyes. Picking up on this, Cass  turned back to her family, furrowing. 

“What did you guys  _ do?”  _

“Nothing!” Harley tried to assure with a far too nervous smile.

“Nothing?! Ha!”  She whipped her head to the referee  “They’ve been loud, vulgar,  even  _ threatening,  _ and I’m pretty sure one of them snuck in whiskey too – and  _ now _ their...child, or whatever the hell this unstable fostering situation is, beat up my kid!”

“Hey, your kid tripped ours first!” Dinah snapped

“Wow. Good job Cassandra.” The girl grinned smugly. Cass grit her teeth together, puffing herself up

“ Yeah?! Well all of them can beat you  _ and  _ your dad’s ass so why don’t –”

There was a sharp, long blow of a whistle, making everyone around the circle cringe and hold their hands over their ears.  Heads spun to the ref standing in the middle of the chaos, arms waving to try and reign it in. 

“Is that really necessary?” Harley asked with a hundred percent innocence. She was shot a look before he spoke. 

“ Alright, everybody calm down!  I need you all to return to your seats; I only need to talk to the families.” He gave a glare to the crowd so they all started to disperse, after directing it to the leftover adults “ Given what happened here, and the  _ severity  _ of it, I’ve decided to suspend both girls from the game.” 

“What?!” Montoya yelled over the calamity and uproars “That’s not fair! Cass was attacked first!” 

“My  daughter just accidentally ran into  someone that’s all! She shouldn’t have to sit out!”  The annoying neighbour protested  “But this runt punched and  _ hit  _ her, she should be suspended!”

“What’d you call her?!” Helena snarled and now Dinah was trying to hold both her and a manic-eyed Harley back as the opposing parents began yelling back and the ref started hollering again.

“Hey, everyone, stop! This isn’t happening – any more fighting and both kids can be kicked off the team –”

“Alright, alright, okay!” Montoya yelled over the noise again to get his attention, using the ‘cop voice’ as her teammates called it that she’d perfected being a small female in a large group of  domineering men “Can we just – can we just  get five seconds with the kid, agree to get them  to apologize and  stop fighting? Then maybe we can work out a better arrangement..” 

He didn’t look thrilled about the idea, but years of being on the force made Montoya a pretty good negotiator and  de-escalater so the grumpy expression finally softened. 

“..Fine. Five minutes, otherwise both girls  are done!” 

Montoya nodded her thanks, grasping Cass by the arm and dragging her over to the side of the gym floor. The other birds and Harley scurried after, forming some-kind of huddle. 

“God.” Harley wrinkled her nose looking back at the ref  _ “Men _ – give em’ an inch of power, they take a mile!”

“I’m not gunna agree to anything!” Cass defied, glaring at Montoya which thankfully gave her a leg up since they were the same height “I didn’t do anything!” 

“ Except dent the kid’s face in, Cass.” 

“She started it! Honestly she’s a bitch and she started everything way before this; she kept bumping shoulders with me when were changing in the washrooms, and was saying I was too short and that I should be playing on the ten year olds team to make it  fair – and  _ then  _ saying it again when she tripped me!”

“Look, we know Cass, we get it.” Dinah stepped forward, even keel and tone as she met the kid’s gaze “We’re not asking you to get along with her or be nice or anything.” 

“Then what?!” 

“We’re asking you to  _ tolerate  _ her – because, what, are you gunna let down your team like that?” 

Cass quieted, furrowing. She glanced over to the pod of young girls wearing the same royal blue, talking in hushed voices to themselves. Some of them were eyeing her, looking like they were waiting for the bated moment she’d return back to them. 

“You’re not gunna  leave them in the dark, are you?” Dinah asked, brow arched. 

“They don’t  _ need  _ me..” Cass tried to shrik it off by rolling her eyes, staring down at her ruddy sneakers “They’re all good, they can do it by themselves..” 

“Not according to the shot you took earlier.” Dinah challenged, also folding her arms “And it’s not just about that; when  you’re a part of a  _ team,  _ you don’t sacrifice them and let them down for your own bullshit.” 

Cass’s scrunched face and folded arms showed she didn’t  _ like  _ what she was being told, but the fact that she  wasn’t snapping back proves she was willing enough to listen. Dinah’s voice softened a little.

“You all have a job to do, and you can’t leave them  to do it alone.”

“...I  _ know  _ that..” Cass grumbled, still refusing to make eye-contact “Just the stuff she said..sucks, is all..” 

“ Yeah, we know that too.” Montoya spoke up again “Those chauvinists back at the station used to give me shit all the time – because I was smaller and not like them and they could. But I had a job to do, so I ignored them and did a damn  _ good  _ job, even I was never rewarded for it. But you have a chance to be, so I say finish your job.” 

“ Yeah.” Helena followed, surprising everyone by doing a pep talk but felt encouraged by the solid advice her friends gave “And, don’t you  _ want  _ to win? I mean, I like punching as much as the next person, but..” she shrugged, trying to give a smile to Cass “nothing is going to make her madder then if you win.” 

Cass nodded quietly, the resistance on her face seeming to melt. Harley, so far, had stayed, uncharacteristically quiet, fingers tapping on her arm and ‘hmm’ing to herself watching the others encourage her apprentice. Even if she felt like punching was still the best solution,  she wanted to throw in her bit too, feeling left out. 

“..They’re right kid.” All heads swivelled to her, surprise over Cass’s face “I mean, sometimes you gotta do things that are a major bummer to do what you wanna. Like, I didn’t really  _ wanna _ work with goodie-goodies, but I had to unless I wanted Romy to cut my head off and place it on the hood of his car – or, cut up  _ your  _ intestines either..” 

“Yeah, because the rest of us  were dreaming to fight alongside a batshit  ex-convict..” Dinah grumbled.

“..You’re  _ really  _ saying to take the high road out? You?” Cass clarified, brow up  incredulously. Harley sighed, and then leaned closer to Cass, speaking in a hushed voice that did nothing to hide what she was saying. 

“....Look, we can stick a cherry bomb in the tail pipe of their car later, alright?..” 

“Okay, you are not doing that –” Montoya’s accusatory pointer fingers was pulled down by Dinah. 

“But, right now, you should win your game, ‘cause what’s all that hard work for then, huh?” Harley reached forward, hand over Cass’s head to nudge it down “So go kick their metaphorical asses..” 

Cass ducked away from the playful nudge, scoffing – but after, they all saw a small smile pull over her lips, starring back up at a grinning Harley. Secret, hidden smiles passed around the birds too, knowing they sealed the deal. 

“Alright, times up!” 

The ref burst into the family moment by walking in, giving them a glare way too serious for a kid’s basketball game.

“ I hope you all had a good chat or soon I’ll have to bench Cassandra here –”

“No!” Cass interrupted, going over to him “I..I wanna play. Really. I..I’m sorry – please let me  back in..”

H e clearly wasn’t expecting  that by the raised eyebrows, but with Cass’s sincere look of hope and the rather...pressing looks, from the four women, he  wordlessly steps aside, letting her by. Cass smiled and so did the  others, clapping her on the shoulder and cheering as she ran in, going over to her friends who all welcomed her back in. 

“ What?!” just as the group thought they were set, the opposition came back as the obnoxious woman seethed at the ref “That young girl  _ beat up  _ my child and she’s not going to walk away without any repercussions?!” 

“There isn’t even a fucking dent on your kid!” Dinah, who was now starting to have had it, snaps and this time has to be pinched by Montoya to cool it. But it was _true;_ the kid just a bit messier hair and maybe a couple red marks on her cheeks that’d fade in a few hours.

“Look, the kids, the families – we’re all just trying to have a good time and let them play.” The ref sighed, now suddenly coming down from his high horse “Cassandra did apologize and,  _ technically,  _ did not injure anyone nor instigate what happened.  So, if your daughter does the same, then I’m willing to continue and let everyone else out of waiting –”

“She shouldn’t have to apologize for anything, this is insane!” 

“No, wait, mom,” The little blonde surprised everyone by stopping to pull on her mother’s sleeve, the same sincerity on her face “I wanna play too. I’m sorry, I..” she spun to the ref, repeating “I’m sorry..” 

“As long as it doesn’t happen again, that’s good enough for me.” He held out his hand in gesture to the other pod of red jersey-wearing girls as their teammate ran to them,  taking his whistle and giving a sharp blow “ Alright, let’s get started!

“ _What_ – no, this-this is ridiculous! I, you –”

“Look, lady, a piece of advice..” Harley slid over to tap the woman who might as well have steam coming out of her ears, grinning wide in perfect innocence “The kids are tryina’ focus on their game, so you might wanna keep your voice down..” 

She could only gape back at Harley who pulled her sunglasses down to give a wink, skipping right back to the other three who were all smiling as they walked back  to the bleachers, victorious – though for good measure, sat in a different spot further to the corner from everyone else. 

About twenty minutes later, Cass’s team was declared winner and the birds and Harley were waiting outside, leaning against Dinah’s cream coloured convertible as the kids changed and packed up.

“God, we’ve been waiting here  _ forevverrrrr..”  _ Harley groaned; out of sight down the street, she’d now changed into her loud, everyday clothes that made sure you could spot her from ten blocks away. 

“We’ve been waiting for seven minutes Harley..” Helena replied.

“Someone should've given her something shiny to play with.” Dinah said,  tossing her finished cigarette down and crushing it under her foot. 

“Or she could play in traffic instead..” Montoya muttered, getting chuckles. 

“Oh  _ Rene,”  _ Harley put her hands on her hips, giving the older woman a smile  as she started creeping into her personal space “you know you love me, right?..” 

“ _ Stop it,  _ get off me – I don’t know where the hell you’ve been –”

“ Hey, guys!..”

Helena picked up on Cass’s footsteps as she rounded the corner, walking right into them as they all burst into cheers at seeing her.

“ There she is, the star of the game!” Harley skipped over to Cass, resting an arm over her head and trying to pinch her cheek. 

“Shut up..” Cass nudged her off, fighting not to show the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. 

“You did great kid.” Montoya smiled, Dinah and Helena nodding along. 

“ _Great?_ She was the friggin bestest!”  Harley practically sang,  rustling the girls’ hair “Honestly, those other little girlies better watch out!” 

“Yeah, okay, whatever..–”

“ Wait, you can hear it now..” Dinah couldn’t help but play along, grinning as she cupped a hand around her ear “all those twelve-to-thirteen-year-old girls shaking in their jerseys’..” 

“ Knock it off,  _ god –” _

“Hey,” Helena spoke over the chuckles, prodding Cass innocently in the arm “I can offer you my dumbells to help prepare you for all the  trophy's your gunna have to carry.” 

M ore laughs as a red-faced Cass tried to avoid their good-natured jostling, shrinking down and dodging. 

“ _ Stop,  _ god, you guys are so  embar r assing! –”

“Hey, Cass?” 

All bodies spun over at once. About twenty paces upwards from them, was the same blond-haired girl that’d raged against Cass only one hour  ago – except, this time, wasn’t wearing the same sneering cruelty, appearing rather nervous with a bit lip and folded arms.  Everyone lost their smiles, the women straightening up and immediately crowding around Cass with stern looks of protection. Cass herself though, just squinted instead, raising an eyebrow in question. 

“Uh,  yeah?..” 

A pause, where she glanced around for a minute, kicking up gravel, seeming to gather the nerve until she finally looked Cass in the eye “Just uh...good game..” 

Well, no one saw that coming. The birds and Harley shared quick flicks of their gazes  in surprise, all perching on Cass who was wearing the most shock. Eyes and brows drawn, unsure of how to respond to the actual sincere response. Eventually, Harley had to give her a slight nudge to kick her into gear. 

“Yeah, uh, thanks..” She muttered, pretending as she did, to be too cool, but gave the respect to look her in the eyes too “You too...” 

The girl nodded back as smoothly as the confidence of a middle school girl  allows, and then with an awkward turn and shuffle, she was off walking back to her own family. Another confused, though this time lighter pause followed, looks shared around to see what would happen next – leaving Harley to lean down to Cass’s ear. 

“..I still got the cherry bombs in my bag – if we hurry now, we can do it before they walk back to their car –”

“Quin, I told you!–”

“No.” Cass cut off, still looking out to where the girl had walked away “It’s okay..” 

“ What?!” Harley squawked. The others too, shared equal surprise.

“Yeah. She..apologized, sorta, and..our team won anyway so..” 

“...Wow. That’s pretty big of you kid.” Montoya applauded as Dinah clasped Cass’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. 

“It’s  _ boring,  _ is what it is! Who the hell even are you anymore?! I expect better behaviour then that from you young lady!” Harley all but pouted as the others poorly tried to hide their laughter, throwing them a dirty look “You three have been a  _ rotten  _ influence on her!” 

“ _Whatever_ – we should go!” Cass turned and grabbed a hold of Dinah’s car door, jumping and hoisting herself in, sitting up on the white leather and looking at them oh-so-innocently “Don’t I get ice ream for all my hard work?” 

I t took some wrangling to get everyone in the car (and fighting over who gets the passenger seat, which Montoya won by claiming she out-did all of them in age so she’s indebted and Harley was lucky not to get smacked for replying that that wasn’t something to be proud of), and Dinah threatening that if Cass puts her feet on the seats she’s gunna wring her neck, but in time they were off. 

They treated the kid to her just desserts, Cass piling her dipped cone with a multitude of coloured scoops and as many toppings as she could fit. The four women also got their own, with Montoya getting made fun of for trying to be healthy with her single scoop strawberry so they all got flipped off and Harley shaving some of her rainbow monstrosity that was even taller then Cass’s off for Helena who admitted she’d never had anything outside the vanilla and chocolate binary.  It’s not their usual bar and drinks night out for relaxation, but it does just as well; laughs and loud chatter, at home with each other and all cracking up when Dinah smeared Helena’s cone into her face when she wasn’t looking and Helena definitely angering the other parents with their kids in the store by screaming  _ “what the fuck Lance?!”,  _ raunches laughter following. 

And Cass rolls her eyes, already knowing the looks they’re getting from the other families she even recognizes from the game, also having travelled over for post-game ice cream. They always get weird looks when they’re out anyway; one twelve-year-old girl and four women who are for sure not related and don’t look like they have any business with each other. But whatever. She’d take this over any boring old mom and pop anyway. 

She’d never really said  like  that before  though, anything mushy – not until they finish their ice cream and they stroll back to the car  in the warm air ,  the sun just starting to set to a light, orange-ish blue sky and a lightness happily sitting in all of them. Dinah caught Cass’s far-away smile after Helena lifted her down from her shoulders so they could start climbing into the car, nudging her with a curious grin. 

“What’s with the dopey look kid?..” 

“Nuthin, it’s just...you were  right, before..” Cass glances up, trying to shirk it off but a smile pulled over her lips anyway “..It  really  wasn’t always gunna be like that..” 

Dinah  beamed, softening as her smile grew. She needn’t say anything, just throws her arm around the smaller shoulders and holds tight, jostling a bit as Cass chuckled  and stepped into the car – into more family bickering, and frankly, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope that was at all good for you! I recently started another job which has decreased my time/energy, so if you wanna power me to do more kudos and comments are the way to a writer's heart. See y'all soon!


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